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The internet seems to have taken over our printed newspapers resulting in a lot of lost jobs and many newspapers, small and major, really cutting down if not completely closing up shop. The internet has made information accessible instantly and within minutes, even seconds of when an event occurs. As quickly as someone can create commentary on an event is as quickly as you can read it. What really kills the newspapers is the cost that’s involved. There is hardly any.
There are literally millions of articles and posts and stories getting uploaded to the internet every single day. The numbers are really staggering. So, is this really the end of the newspaper? It’s certainly marked the end for a lot of printed newspapers. They’re still maintaining an online presence with thousands of jobs being eliminated in the process. It’s probably not the end of the newspaper, but this situation is probably going to create the spark for some evolution of how they present themselves. Niche marketing seems to be a pretty popular thing these days, with good reason, it’s effective. So, maybe the newspaper people need to consider this and dig deeper with their work.
It’s hard to imagine our world without the major newspapers that are distributed nation wide. What’s so great about them? Well, their in depth articles and reporting. They really get into the meat of very specific things and stay away from the AP articles picked up across the nation. Consider the small town newspaper. They are probably making cuts too, but it might have more to do with the economy then the internet. My point in mentioning small town papers is that they are kind of a niche item, being very specific to their locale. They might be making cuts, but they’re probably sticking around. Why is that? Because that information that they are providing – the local scores, the court news, the weather, etc. are really only going to be found in that paper and so people are going to continue to pay for it.
This is something to keep in mind with your website or blog or whatever it is that you’re using to express your online presence. This idea of fitting a niche can really benefit you. In order to really get into a niche it’s going to really benefit you to market something that you already know a lot about. Picking something out of thin air because there seems to be interest in it isn’t necessarily the best idea. You want to sound like a guru and the authority so your best bet is to get into something that you have knowledge about. That’s a pretty simple concept, but a lot of people miss the boat on this one and jump all over the place with what they’re marketing.
Keeping this idea of being specific in mind with your content and your website, to better get this point across, you might want to think about the multitude of information that now exists on the internet and is being added to the landfill constantly. More and more people are trying to make a dollar one way or another so they’re recycling information, rewording it, making it look different and regurgitating it right back up again. That kind of post or article is just getting lost in the ether of the internet. In other words, the information that are in these recycled articles really have no value and it can be found elsewhere, in many other places; thousands of other places.
This is the problem that newspapers are facing. The information that they are providing can be found in thousands of other places, literally, with the exception of the very local news that only has importance in its locale. This makes them dispensable. What will probably end up happening is a big box version of internet news pages. In a way it’s already happening. There are the major sites people go to for their news, and then there are the very specific sites people go to for more offbeat news. Now, I realize you’re not reading this because you’re interested in creating a news site, but you can hopefully see the parallels here.
Your site or blog needs to be a comprehensive source for reliable, filtered information on a particular topic. You’re going to have to offer something unique, different and fresh. People have a short attention span and if you start getting too general and too mundane then people aren’t going to stick around. Not only will that not stick around, but they’re not going to come back either. If you can present unique content that shows thoughtfulness and generates intrigue and discussion, then you’re on the right path. It’s not like you have to change the world or win people over, but if you can present a new perspective to somebody then that person is going to make a mental note and check back for more of what you have to say.
All the sudden you’ve taken on this authoritative connotation and vibe that that person recognizes and might even pass along. You just have to be consistently unique. You won’t have to be ground breaking, or be the next great philosopher, but you’ll just have to be fresh and creative. Don’t get stuck doing what everybody else is doing, do something new. While you’re at it, go out and buy a newspaper because there’s something nice about turning those pages and smelling the ink that rolls off of them.
Newspapers are going to have to adapt and evolve just like you’re going to have to do to be successful. The newspapers need to evolve, I need to evolve, you need to, we all need to evolve. Take a look at the mainstays of the print industry, both newspaper and magazines. I don’t mean take a look at them online, but you can probably get an idea that way too. Go pick something up, one of those highly informational publications or papers and take a look at what’s in them. It’s highly informative and very specific stuff. It’s highly thought out articles that the authors spent a lot of time on. Not just a week, or even a month, but many months, often years have gone into some of these pieces that you’ll find. Consider that point. These professionals aren’t just doing a search on the internet and reading some stuff that some other person wrote after doing their own search. Put some real effort into it, adapt, evolve and be unique.
I totally agree. Unless your content is unique there no point in doing a website. Also taking pride in the content and the presentation also very important.